Short answers, pulled from the story.
Apollonius of Rhodes died in the 3rd century BC, but ancient biographers contradict each other on whether he died in Rhodes or returned to Alexandria. The first text claims he died in Rhodes while the second insists he returned to Alexandria to die.
Some ancient writers named his father as Silleus or Illeus but these names are so rare they may derive from comic lampoons rather than historical fact. Other sources claim his mother was Rhodē which means Rhodian woman but this likely stems from an attempt to explain his epithet.
Apollonius served as head of the Library of Alexandria under the Ptolemies during the first half of the 3rd century BC. He held this prestigious position before being succeeded by Eratosthenes around 247/246 BC when Ptolemy III Euergetes took power.
The Argonautica consists of four books totaling fewer than 6000 lines compared to Homer's Iliad which exceeds 16,000 lines. The poem features a weaker human protagonist named Jason rather than a divine hero like Achilles.
Modern scholars once believed Apollonius and Callimachus engaged in a bitter literary feud based on limited evidence but most contemporary scholars now believe any conflict has been enormously sensationalized if it existed at all. Both Lives of Apollonius stress friendship between the poets with the second Life claiming they were buried together.